17th century Italian cabinet restoration

[rob streeper]

This is a 17th century Italian cabinet reportedly called a pappalero (sp?). This type of cabinet was used by scribes to store their writing instruments and other supplies. In the 4 centuries that have elapsed since it's creation it has served a number of purposes including bookshelf and television entertainment center. The previous owner installed interior Christmas lights for mood and ensconced a large television in the upper part of the cabinet.

as found.jpg


The first task was to create the hand scraped moulding that had been removed from the front of the upper cabinet. The cabinet appeared to be made from walnut so I acquired a piece of rough-sawn 9/4 and smoothed it.

surfacing the plank.jpg


The profile of the moulding was traced on both ends of the squared up stock and the excess material was removed using my cabinet saw.

hogging out.jpg


The rough profile.

bulk removed.jpg


Then, using a variety of moulding planes and scrapers.

tools used.jpg


I formed the profile.

it fits.jpg


The cabinet had a number of defects including a place where auto-body dent filler had been applied.

Corner fills before smoothing.jpg


And a multitude of scrapes, crushes, scratches and other wounds that the owner desired to have cleaned up, not filled but simple de-burred.

bites along cornice.jpg


The first order of business was construction of a support for the inset cabinet that resides in the upper part.

Interior support.jpg


This was inserted into the upper cabinet and secured.

interior support installed.jpg


Next the support for the moulding and facia was installed.

filler installed.jpg

[rob streeper]

Then the facia and moulding were installed.

facia installed.jpg


The body filler was contoured to match the original profile using floats.

Corner fills after smoothing.jpg

The cabinet assembled.

[rob streeper]

Well, seems I can't get pictures to upload of the intermediate steps so here it is finished. In short, I used a number of the darker Old Masters gel stains to darken the light spots and blend the finish over all surfaces of the cabinet. Owner is very happy.

Pappalero assembled finished d.jpg

[wheelinround]

sitting ready to go

[rob streeper]

I wonder how long until the next resto.

[Tahlee]

congratulations
It certainly makes one appreciate the craft in years gone by ...

Regards

Rob

[rob streeper]

One thing in particular that I noticed about this cabinet is that all of the minor architectural details are made up of small individual pieces. The carvings are all monolithic. The top of the cabinet is made up of a number of what looks like worn floorboards.

[bueller]

Thank you so much for showing us this, that is such a nice piece. Thinking about the amount of man hours that went into that just boggles my mind.

[rob streeper]

Here are some pictures of the top of the upper cabinet from left to right showing the construction. The casing is very interesting in that it appears to have been made up from a variety of odd sized pieces of timber with no two of the same dimensions.

I was also surprised to see a large number of wire nails. The presence of such nails, patented (France) in 1806 and first made commercially in 1819 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2561702...n_tab_contents), in this piece suggests that they were installed in later repair or renovation work. Wire nails weren't commonly available in Europe until the mid to late part of the 19th century, two hundred odd years newer than the cabinet (https://www.uvm.edu/~histpres/203/nails.html). The nails in this cabinet are clearly machine made with perfect round heads with flat striking faces. Early wire nails had less perfectly formed, often eccentric, rounded or globular heads according to information I've read.

Also apparent is that the finish of the front cornice piece appears to be paint of some type, not a penetrating type finish as the underlying wood is quite light in color. I suppose the coating could also be wax and soot.

Upper cabinet top left.jpg

upper cabinet center.jpg

upper cabinet top right.jpg

[cava]

Wow, that would be an overwhelming job to do. Thanks for sharing.

[rob streeper]

Thanks. The only tedious part was forming the moulding to match, everything else was very straightforward.

[rob streeper]

I recently did a little touch up work on some additional old furniture. When I find the in-process pictures I'll post them.

This is 'cabinet 2'. It has a fold down writing desk in the upper center. Unfortunately the desk fell cracking the desk frame around the knife hinges. The desk is supported in use on the heads of the two large carved figures at the bottom of the picture, one removed for a little retouching. Here it is restored and retouched to diminish the visual impact of the various bruises. It is from the late 18th or early 19th century and appears to be faced with mahogany including burl veneer on the desk panels. Reputedly of English manufacture. It's about 6.5' tall, 3.5' wide and 24" deep.

cabinet 2 073016b.jpg


This is 'cabinet 1', the oldest. It dates from the late 15th or early 16th century and is from Italy. Snipe hinges throughout. This piece is a Bambaci (sp?) or bankers cabinet. It has numerous ingeniously hidden small compartments for storing money and other valuables. It also has a pull out desk at the front center. The large carved gargoyle figures are on the end of square bars that can be extended to support the writing desk. It is by far the most elegantly carved of the three cabinets. I touched up bruises, re-set a hinge and did a small amount of fitting. It's about 8' tall, 6' wide and 24" deep.

cabinet 1 073016a.jpg

[Glenn.Visca]

Fine effort and an excellent result !

[Waldo]

Great work. It be something to work on furniture of such an age. 👍

[Simplicity]

Nice work Rob
And thanks for posting